Here’s a tale about chocolate. Photograph by David LaChapelle, News Talk ZB, Auckland Marathon]
While Barack and Michelle Obama have been having many a cup of tea, scone and perhaps even a slice of Prince Williams favorite childhood chocolate biscuit cake (or two) over UK-USA catch up etiquette time , with Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Phillip… some of our New Zealand politicians and journalists have been creating a twitter side-show by throwing around the word “chocolate” and “chocolate milk” for a laugh, while lulling time away post-budget announcements at Beehive High School (New Zealand’s political home of our version of the ‘House of Commons’ so-to-speak–NOT Sycophanic Kingdom humor … like a Senate).
Tau Henare, a politician known as a notorious joke-star with acerbic wit on twitter, recently caused headlines by tweeting, his fellow Kiwi politician Hone Harawira was “so racist, he has chocolate milk in his cup of tea.”
This prompted, their fellow member of Parliament Steve Maharey to comment, “The line is drawn in a different place on Twitter, but in this case Tau has gone beyond it.”
Meanwhile, not to be outdone, journalist Kerre Woodham, pipes up to say, hang on a minute, that was my line for Hone Harawira. Imperator fish blog writes,”Kerre Woodham’s miffed that Tau Henare stole her line about Hone Harawira being so racist he puts chocolate milk in his tea.” Fair enough too. Kerre is quite right to point out, that politicians these days, love ‘borrowing?’ a good line from another author, that has the potential to become popular Kiwi culture. Chocolate milk clearly is one of these lines.
However, if you type into google “Kerre Woodham Chocolate Milk” no.1 positioning is this blog, with a blog post titled, In the post, I was implying, that Kerre was playing a ‘muppet’ for a politician by even mentioning Hone’s name (Hone Harawira has the same name in Maori Hone, of our current Prime Minister, for example). The blog post had been written while I lived in Hollywood, and I was dissapointed that Woodham was no longer writing her trademark witty authentic thoughts. She herself is a cultural treasure in New Zealand of the ‘white chocolate milky bar’ variety. We love her, but fear had crept in, that perhaps Woodham had been taken over, and was now a muppet mouthpiece of politicians.
Not to mention the fact that Woodham had ‘borrowed’ the line from troubled comedic actor, Charlie Sheen addressing LA’s baseball team, while on a trip out of a rehab center, anyways, so it was 100% Kerres, but what’s that between tabloid story enthusiasts. I mean really?! :)
In Los Angeles, the African-American community, proudly used to say “I’m hot chocolate and proud.” It was a term of endearment, like the word “hori” has been amongst the Maori community for humor purpursoses. Not so, across the ditch in the UK, where David Cameron is Prime Minister.
One supermodel is speaking out today about being referred to as chocolate. In particular Naomi Campbell, who can claim Nelson Mandela as her adopted grandad of sorts, is acting all upset, at a chocolate company using her name and likeness to make their own chocolate brand, a bit sexier, than what it is. She implies that chocolate is not kosher to call black people in the UK. Read the rest of this entry »
PORTRAIT OF AN OIL ADDICT, REMEMBERING LADY GAGA’S BAD ROMANCE PORTRAIT
What lengths would an ‘artist’ go to, in order to depict their nation’s obession (or addiction) to the world’s oil resources?
There is no fame, without oil acquisition, in todays world. This is a hallmark of modern day celebrity. The most ‘powerful’ names in the world, are all a part of the oil wrangling game, in one way or another. Oil wrangling drives global politics like few other games can.
Before she was ranked Forbes no.1 celebrity, sometimes original songwriter, Lady Gaga shared that portrait.
Here, she is crying black blood in publicity material leading into her Bad Romance single marketing many months ago. The fake blood depiction could be oil. An honest portrait of being an American today. China and India too, love oil as much as Gaga does.
Whoever covers themselves in oil, or tries to become oil or embody it, is seeking fame, perhaps more so than other people. Stefani Germanotta gave us that message in this one pic.
Posted by horiwood on May 30, 2011 in Addiction, Fossil Fuels, Lady Gaga, oil, Politics, Pop Art, Pop Cultural Commentary, Star System - The Art of American Celebrity, Trends